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I recently helped someone cancel their Xfinity cable TV service and switched to live TV streaming with YouTube TV
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But this person said there was a hidden cost that they only realized after they canceled cable TV
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Today, I've got five hidden costs to share, starting with taxes. When you're reviewing your cable TV bill and comparing it to the cost of streaming services, this one is easy to miss
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Your cable TV bill includes all taxes and fees, but the websites for streaming services like YouTube
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YouTube TV, Max, and Peacock, they only list the advertised plan prices
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Taxes, they're not reflected until the checkout process. Now, there's a reason for this
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Taxes vary depending on where you live, and not all states and cities will tax streaming services
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Unfortunately, where I live in Florida, the communication service tax is 13%
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Here's an example, YouTube TV's $729 base plan, it actually cost me $8260 after the nearly $10
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in monthly taxes are factored in. If you're like me and streaming services are taxed in your area, this is just another reason
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to review your credit card statements and make sure that you are not paying for any services
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that you don't actually use. Because the lower your overall streaming TV bill, the less you'll
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pay in taxes. Now, sometimes people are so fed up with their cable company, they switch to
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live TV streaming without carefully reviewing the channel lineups And I got another example to explain this hitting cost I going to use YouTube TV again and people will switch to the base plan the one that costs a month
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only to realize that it doesn't include a network or two that they really like
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A lot of times I hear from people who want A&E or history. YouTube TV doesn't carry those at recording time
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There's a workaround and a pretty popular one. It's to sign up for friendly TV
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This service costs us than $10 a month. It's got A&E, history, and some other networks that YouTube TV doesn't carry either
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If you use this workaround, just like that, you've now got two live TV streaming services
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to replace cable TV. Sure, many people are still going to save money this way
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But I'm just mentioning it so that you take the time to compare the channel lineups before
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you switch to streaming. Otherwise, you may have to get a little creative like this example I just shown to get all
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of your must-have channels. Number three today, when you bundle cable and internet service, you typically get
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a discount for that. But those savings, they go away when you switch to an internet-only plan
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I polled my YouTube community, most people say they pay 50 to 70 bucks a month for high-speed
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internet. And from what I've learned, people who live in areas with the most competition
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typically get the best pricing. For example, I live in an area that offers AT&T fiber
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Xfinity cable internet, and 5G home internet services from Verizon and T-Mobile. That's four options
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some people have only one So if cable is your only high internet option you may be able to lower your cost by switching to a different plan A lot of people pay for more speed than they really need
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Also keep in mind that streaming is going to increase your data usage. Most households don't go past their internet data caps if they've even got one, but this is
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something else to monitor. For about a year now, I've been testing 5G home internet from T-Mobile and Verizon
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These services cost $50 a month, and there are discounts for mobile customers
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They don't have data caps, equipment fees, or contracts. And so far, again, after about a year of testing
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I've had no reason to switch back to fiber or cable internet
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I'll drop my full reviews in the description below, as well as some links where you can check the availability of these services
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Unfortunately, they are not available everywhere. Moving on to Premium Features, the fourth hidden costs that I want to talk about today
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Netfilix Max, YouTube TV, three services that make you pay more for 4K content
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Check out the plans from Max. The cheapest one is $9.99 per month
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But you're going to have to pay double that $1999 a month if you want 4K content
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Now, depending on the streaming service, you may have to pay extra for offline downloads
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additional or unlimited streams, and more DVR storage with live TV plans
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Another thing to consider with those live TV services, there are also add-ons for premium channels
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that you want to factor into your streaming budget things like sports plus add that include NFL Red Zone during football season One of the huge benefits of cutting the cord is that you don pay monthly equipment fees but you may need to upgrade your equipment at least at the start
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Every streaming service is going to provide a list of compatible devices on their website
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Included on this list will be devices that let you stream to a TV set
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Typically, it'll include Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, plus popular TV brands like Samsung and LG
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But people who have older smart TVs, they're sometimes really disappointed and reaching out to me
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because their favorite streaming apps are not available. Fortunately, in this case, you don't need to go buy a new TV set
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Instead, you can purchase an affordable streaming media player. I like the Roku Express 4K Plus, well under 50 bucks, sometimes about 25 on sale
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Then just hook up that external device to your smart TV and download your favorite apps
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Of course, before you buy a Roku or any other device, remember what I just said
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and check the website for your streaming apps, make sure that Roku or whatever brand you purchased is listed as one of the supported devices
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And yeah, if you've got multiple TVs in your home, you're most likely going to want a compatible device for each TV set
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Some I advice, start with one and make sure you like it, especially if this is your first time buying a Roku
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or you're switching from one brand a streaming device to another. My name's Michael, and I'm here to help you make every dollar count
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You can find deal alerts on my website, Michael savesdeals.com. Thanks for watching
